The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide Unit is investigating a single-vehicle crash that resulted in the death of the driver Thursday night, December 7, 2023, in Mulberry.
The crash was reported at around 11:39 pm, on Shepherd Road, near Grandeville Boulevard.
Upon the arrival of first responders, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. After the fire was extinguished, the driver was found inside the car, deceased.
Based on evidence at the scene, the preliminary investigation shows that the vehicle, a red 2015 Chevrolet Camaro, had been traveling west on Shepherd Road at a high rate of speed.
The Camaro crested over a hill near the intersection and the driver lost control.
After spinning, the car left the roadway on the north side, hit a speed limit sign, and then hit head-on into an oak tree which split the car down the middle.
The driver has not yet been positively identified.
Shepherd Road was closed for about five hours, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Osceola County, FL – On October 21st, 2023, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Maingate Village Apartments located at 2861 Maingate Village Circle, Kissimmee, Florida, in reference to an exposure of sexual organs incident. Contact was made with the victim, who disclosed earlier that day the suspect had knocked on her front door and masturbated outside of her window. She recorded the behavior and identified the suspect as Raymond Joseph Terryn IV, D.O.B. 01/31/2000.
On December 4th, 2023, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit obtained an arrest warrant for Raymond Joseph Terryn IV in reference to violating F.S.S. 800.03-1A, Exposure of Sexual Organs.
On December 6th, He was arrested and charged with exposure of sexual organs.
Anyone who witnessed similar acts is urged to contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office at (407) 348-2222.
I am not a professional movie critic. Most of the films I watch and review are either superhero flicks or animated children’s movies. So, admittedly, reviewing a serious historical drama like Napoleon is far out of my wheelhouse.
Normally, I don’t watch dramas—or historical dramas, for that matter. I didn’t even watch Oppenheimer! So, I have no real frame of reference by which to fairly judge this movie. I cannot tell whether Napoleon stands on its own as a good historical drama. The best I can do is offer my honest opinion.
So, what’s my opinion? Frankly, Napoleon is about as “entertaining” as reading a history textbook—and not the fun kind with pictures and graphs and charts, but the boring kind that is older than dirt, filled with musty pages upon pages of un-interrupted text with archaic vocabulary, outdated information, and unapologetic racism.
Do I even need to bother summarizing the film’s plot? It’s a historical drama about Napoleon Bonaparte. If you’ve ever taken a history class, you’ve likely had a lesson about the guy. This movie is essentially a comprehensive historical lecture brought to life, detailing the important plot points of Napoleon’s career, starting as a French soldier working his way up the military, meeting and marrying his wife Josephine, being crowned Emperor of France, and fighting his many battles from the Invasion of Russia to his defeat in Waterloo before inevitably being exiled.
While the film undoubtedly does a decent job telling Napoleon’s story, even with a two-and-a-half-hour running time, the movie feels rather rushed, hastily glossing over the important details of Napoleon’s life.
As one other online critic explained: “The narrative gets spread so thin and key events get so oversimplified that a lot of the time you don’t know what’s going on or why. It’s more of a whistle-stop tour of the big moments in Napoleon’s life, giving you enough to understand what is happening at the precise moment, but lacking the wider context needed to explain why it matters so much.”
Many historians have criticized the movie for its numerous historical inaccuracies. Since I’m not a history buff, I neither know nor care enough about real history to tell. I do know this movie, first and foremost, is a movie, and as such, liberties are expected to be taken for the sake of cinematic narrative. So long as a movie is good, no one will care about minor inaccuracies. Alas, a good movie this is not.
To be fair, the cinematography is undoubtedly excellent. This movie was directed by Ridley Scott, a man who has been directing films longer than I have been alive. So, of course, someone with that much experience under his belt has to try hard to make a bad movie. Plenty of the action scenes, especially the battles, are invigorating, with the copious amount of blood and gore more than earning this movie its R-rating.
However, where Napoleon falls flat is with the acting—or rather, lack thereof!—by the titular character. There’s a joke about Hollywood writing called the “Sexy Lamp Test.” To wit, if you can replace a female character in a movie with a sexy lamp and everything else about the movie remains unaffected, you have written a bad female character. Napoleon, on the other hand, could easily have its lead character replaced by a marble bust of Napoleon and nothing else about the film would be affected. In short, this movie made a bad Napoleon character.
Ridley Scott took one of Europe’s most colorful larger-than-life rulers, infamous for his boisterous, over-the-top personalities and cunning charisma, and sucks all the emotion out of him, leaving Joaquin Phoenix to give a consistently deadpan performance throughout the film. Again, a marble bust of Napoleon would have offered a more spirited performance.
Good chunks of the movie are dedicated to showcasing the complicated romantic relationship between Napoleon and Josephine, but compared to Joaquin Phoenix’s consistently emotionless performance, Anakin and Padme’s relationship in the Star Wars prequels feels more passionate. What else can you say about a character who lacks passion, especially egregiously so in scenes where he’s supposed to act passionately?
For example, one scene plays out Napoleon’s most infamous moments where he seizes the crown during his coronation and crowns himself the Emperor of France. Such a performance should have Napoleon announcing his audacious move with a boisterous air. Instead, he makes his proclamation with as much enthusiasm as someone placing an order for plain grits at Denny’s.
Another scene has Napoleon return to France from his exile. He is greeted by soldiers aiming their loaded bayonet-tipped guns at him. Through an impromptu speech, he convinces them to let him return to their country and reclaim his throne. Such a scene should exhibit the charisma of a dictator. Instead, Napoleon pleads with the soldiers with the same tone one would read someone a number from a phone book.
In short, there have been plenty of movies and television specials that have done a good job of telling the story of Napoleon Bonaparte. Ridley Scott has made better movies. Joaquin Phoenix has acted in better roles. This isn’t one of them. Napoleon is a hard pass!
Babson Park, Fl. December 6, 2023- The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce Dr. Nelson Marquez as the new President and CEO of Webber International University. During the December 1st semi-annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, the Board unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Marquez effective December 1, 2023.
Dr. Marquez has served in this position in an interim capacity and has worked diligently and intently with task forces on both campuses to guide the University through a challenging transitional period. “I am truly honored to be given the opportunity to write new and exciting chapters for Webber and our branch campus, St. Andrews University, side-by-side with its faculty, staff, and students. I believe that the Office of the President exists to serve you, not to be served by you. And I intend to do just that…to be of service to the University’s constituents,” Dr. Marquez said. The Board has full confidence in Dr. Marquez’s commitment, vision, and ability to lead both campuses into a stable and prosperous future. Dr. Marquez will be sharing more of his vision for the success of Webber and St. Andrews in the coming days and months.
Dr. Marquez replaces Dr. H. Keith Wade who has served as the University’s President/CEO since 2008. The Board and the University communities of Webber in its Florida and North Carolina campuses would like to thank Dr. Wade for his years of service and wish him well.
Webber International University is approaching its Centennial Anniversary in 2027. A milestone that will be a celebration of the institution’s rich history and past successes, as well as endless opportunities to provide students with the highest quality of education for years to come.
Established in 1927 by Roger Babson as the first college chartered under Florida’s then new charitable and educational laws, and America’s second school of business for women, Webber’s campuses in Babson Park, FL and Laurinburg, NC Degrees are offered at the associates, bachelors, and masters level through traditional day, accelerated night and weekend, and entirely on-line formats. Joining Webber as a branch campus in 2011, St. Andrews University is an historically Presbyterian, comprehensive liberal arts school tracing its roots back to 1896. The University features highly qualified faculty, highly engaged staff, small class size, and a wide array of intercollegiate sports and other extracurricular activities. The University has been recognized as a US News and World Reports Best Regional Colleges: South, a Princeton Review Best Southeastern College, has earned Petersons’ top marks for academics, value and community, and has been designated a Military Friendly School. The University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and numerous programs have earned additional programmatic accreditations.
Nick Sellers and his co-workers from Peterson and Myers have been participating in the Annual Lakeland Chamber Golf Scramble for six to seven years.
He and his team love supporting the Chamber through the event, as it offers a great opportunity to have a great time and fellowship with fellow golfers on the links.
Sellers and his teammates became the grand champions at this year’s event, hosted on Monday at the Lone Palm Golf Club in Lakeland. They won with a total par gross of -19 and a total gross of 53. He owed his success to the great gameplay by his teammate, Brad Stainsby.
“It was a good time with good fellowship,” he said. “It is a good event in comparison to other scrambles.”
Approximately 17 teams and a total of 107 attendees participated in this year’s golf scramble. They arrived around 8 AM with the shoot-off starting at 9 AM. The event concluded at 2 PM, where the players gathered for lunch and the opportunity to win prizes through a 50/50 raffle.
Nichole Martinez, Coordinator of Events at the Lakeland Chamber, owes the event’s success to the good partnership the Chamber has with the golf resort. Proceeds from the event will go towards the Chamber’s many programs and services to its local business partners.
“It was overall a wonderful experience,” she said. “Everyone had a great time.”
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit has arrested a second teacher in less than a week for illegal and inappropriate conduct with a child.
The first arrest occurred on November 30th, involving Jerron Dunn, a substitute teacher working at New Beginnings High School (a charter school), who sent texts messages and videos of himself masturbating to two students. Click here to read the news release:Polk Teacher Charged With Having Sex Offenses Against Students
The most recent arrest, of a 21-year-old male private school teacher, occurred on December 6, 2023. He has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors including: sex offense on a student by an authority figure (F2), traveling to meet a minor to engage in illegal activity (F2), unlawful use of a two-way communication device (F3), and other charges. The victim is a 15-year-old girl who did not attend his school.
“Two teachers preying on students is two too many. I don’t know what either of these suspects were thinking, but rest assured, if you groom, solicit, inappropriately talk to, or touch any student here in Polk County, we will lock you up and do our best to make sure you won’t have access to children again.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Sheriff Judd will discuss the arrest at 1:30 p.m. today (December 7, 2023) at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Operations Center located at 1891 Jim Keene Blvd., Winter Haven.
Xavier may have never walked the earth, but that does not stop his mother, Diana Koloc, from treating him as her son. Even when he passed away on Nov. 14, 2009, as a stillborn baby 38 and a half weeks into her pregnancy, she still considered him as much of a son as her three other children.
“I carried him his entire life,” Diana said. “I loved him his entire life. I felt him move. I felt his hiccups. My son, Maximus kissed his belly and told him good night every night until he died.”
Nearly 14 years after her son’s death, Diana stumbled upon a shocking discovery while visiting the Lake Wales Cemetery. A few weeks ago, she visited Xavier’s grave site, only to discover that it had gone missing.
Turned out that the grass and sod had grown over his grave marker. Her sons dug where the tombstone was located and found it buried several inches in the ground. Diana suspected it might have been covered up by debris from fresh graves dug around his.
This was not the first time something like this had happened to her son’s grave. About five years ago, Diana and her family faced a similar problem.
“At the time, the cemetery manager agreed that dirt had been placed over it,” she explained. “So I paid for it to be dug and placed up so it was at the level of what the ground was, but it happened again.”
Diana went to the cemetery’s office to address the issue. She was informed that the cemetery was not responsible for fixing or maintaining graves, and she was given the business card of a department in the city to speak to.
So, Diana visited the office of the city official who helps oversee that responsibility. She was informed that because her son’s grave was located on a slope near a retention pond, it had been buried due to runoff. Nevertheless, she was told even the city was not responsible for maintaining grave sites.
“The city does not have any responsibility or obligation to do anything about runoff on graves,” Diana said. “She was adamant that it was a slope and she would speak with her director and see for themselves, but the city had no responsibility for the tombstones…People come and complain about broken stones and other complaints. But it is not the city’s responsibility.”
Diana was given a copy of the rights and responsibilities of the city and cemetery that are given to everyone who purchases a plot.
“I know you were supposed to read it, but I can tell you that when you have to bury your son, you’re not going to read the city’s rights or responsibilities,” she said.
The person Diana talked to stated that she was a mother too, but she was also a city employee and could only tell her what they could and would not do.
“From my perspective, she may be a mother, but she is not the mother of a child who had died, and there is a difference when you are talking about the graves at the cemetery,” Diana said. “So to go to the city and hear her say she is a mom too, it’s not the same thing. We can talk about being moms in the ballfield and school system, but we cannot talk about being a mom at the cemetery.”
Diana was not angry, but she recalls many people attempting to console her in her grief with similar platitudes following her son’s passing. She recalls how one person told her that at least it wasn’t one of her living children who passed away. Another example was the time that someone told her that he did not count because he never actually lived in her home.
“What I felt from the city was that he did not matter,” she said. “As a mom in grieving, he does matter. He changed me, he may never have taken a breath, but he changed me and put me on a different course.. Xavier was named after a missionary that saved 2 million people. And my precious eight-pound baby answered the call to minister without taking a breath. He fulfilled his purpose.”
Her husband, Joe, insists that the cemetery bears some responsibility, as it is required to maintain upkeep that would otherwise prevent such incidents from occurring, and that its negligence led to their son’s buried grave marker.
“Overtime, the grass grows over them, but unless you trim in around them, it will encroach over any concrete surface in Florida, that is what grass does,” he said. “And so, what they are not doing is edging or trimming around it to keep the surrounding area lower.”
Diana called a local monument company, and they told her that when the grave is excavated, the dirt is not removed from the cemetery, but is leveled out.
Diana and her family hope to move forward with the matter and see how they can have the issues with her son’s grave addressed.
“We are just hoping that they will do a better job. That if a person is handling a problem, they will do it and make sure it is taken care of,” she said. “I will give [the city] the opportunity to be compassionate, all they would need to do is have someone with shovels to lower the surrounding area. It’s a simple issue that wouldn’t require a professional company to raise the gravestones.
This year, Disney celebrates its 100th anniversary. Sadly, despite this being a momentous year for the company, its output has proven less than spectacular. Elemental was a huge flop, its Marvel and Star Wars content has been rather lackluster, and its live-action remakes have been…typical Disney live-action remakes.
However, Disney is officially concluding its 100th anniversary celebration with Wish, its newest animated feature that claims to be “100 years in the making.” But does this movie live up to Disney’s 100-year-old hype? Or is this a movie that needs to be tossed into the dark recesses of the Disney Vault?
Wish takes place in the enchanted fairy tale kingdom of Rosas, led by the spell-casting monarch King Magnifico. In exchange for their heart’s greatest desire and their absolute loyalty, he uses his magic to grant the wishes of his subjects.
Asha is a young girl who aspires to be the king’s apprentice and help him grant other people’s wishes. Unfortunately, she soon learns that his wish-granting powers are not all they are cracked up to be. Through the help of a magical star sprite that fell from the sky, Asha is determined to sneak into the castle and release the hoarded wishes. Will she succeed in her quest? Or will her wish not come true?
Disney has evidently taken note of its competitors and decided to emulate their more stylized computer animation. However, while Wish isn’t as stylized as movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish or Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, the watercolor texture does offer a rather storybook feel to the animation that almost feels like a book of fairy tales come to life. (Not as much so as The Last Wish, but rather close.)
Disney also evidently wanted this movie to celebrate the company’s 100-year-long legacy with plenty of references to previous Disney movies. From Asha having seven friends clearly inspired by the seven dwarves, to the countless inside jokes nodding to past Disney movies (when you see and hear them, you’ll know), and even to the main antagonist being an honest-to-Satan real unapologetic Disney villain, this movie will either have you clapping and squealing in glee, pointing and saying “I understood that reference!”, or rolling your eyes at the cynically blatant meta jokes—all depending on your love or hate for the movie.
The movie’s soundtrack is also chef’s kiss! Obviously, the big musical number the movie wants you to love is the momentous I-wish ballad “This Wish” sung by the not-really-a-princess Disney Princess Asha, but plenty of other songs proved just as great. King Magnifico’s big villain song “This Is The Thanks I Get?” is a great villain’s song which, while not an instant classic like “Be Prepared” or “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, certainly makes you miss when Disney had such big villainous musical numbers. My personal favorite has to be “Knowing What I Know Now”, a real revolutionary banger that will have you pumping your fists in the air and screaming, “Yeah! Fight the power!”
Speaking of revolutionary, this movie has quite a radical political edge. The main villain is a ruler who demands loyalty from his people in exchange for giving them whatever they want or
need. As the plot unfolds, his true intentions become clear, and it is soon revealed that he only does what he does to maintain power over others. Thus, the movie provides an unsubtly anti-authoritarian message about how no one person should ever hold so much power and control over other people’s lives, how foolish it can be to place all your faith and trust in such charismatic leaders, and how the people should have the power to control their own lives and destiny.
You know, if I had a nickel for every time I watched an animated movie this year that Trojan Horsed a radical political message inside of a classic fairy tale setting, I would have two nickels—which isn’t much, but it’s weird it happened twice! (The other time was Netflix’s Nimona—an animated movie about a shape-shifting character—who’s not too subtly queer-coded—who is ostracized by a society that demonizes anything that deviates from the norm like she does.)
Overall, Wish is a love letter to Disney animation and its 100-year legacy. If you’re willing to overlook somewhat lackluster characters and telegraphed plot points, it is a spectacular animated feature with brilliant animation, mellifluous musical numbers, and plenty of the good elements that Disney fans have come to expect from the House of Mouse.
Based on the evidence at the scene, the school bus was traveling west on West Pipkin Road approaching Medulla Road when, at the same time, the bicyclist was attempting to make a left turn northbound onto Medulla Road from the eastbound left turn lane. The bicyclist crossed into the path of the school bus and was struck.
There were eight passengers on the school bus who ranged in age from 8 to 11 who attended the South McKeel Academy and McKeel Academy Central. Neither the bus driver nor the passengers were injured.
The roadway was shut down for approximately 4 hours to process the scene for the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact Traffic Crash Investigator Officer Camilo Almeida at [email protected].
Driver:
Nina Lewis
Age: 71
Lakeland, FL
Bicyclist:
Male
Age: 15
Lakeland, FL
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Original Media Release sent at 11:00 a.m.
FATAL CRASH INVOLVING A SCHOOL BUS
LAKELAND, FL (December 5, 2023) – On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at approximately 6:58 a.m., officers were dispatched to the 3900 block of Pipkin Road for a traffic crash involving a bicyclist. At the scene, officers located an unresponsive male who had been struck by a Schools of McKeel Academy school bus.
The Lakeland Police Department, Polk County Fire Rescue, and the Lakeland Fire Department all arrived to begin life-saving measures. The male was transported to Lakeland Regional Health where despite the best efforts of medical professionals, was pronounced deceased. It was learned that the bicyclist was a 15-year-old student who
attended Central Florida Aerospace Academy.
Preliminarily, based on evidence found at the scene, officers believe the bicyclist was attempting to cross Pipkin Road when he was struck by the bus. The driver of the bus remained at the scene and was not injured.
Frostproof, Florida – The Polk County Sheriff Office deputies were dispatched to a single vehicle, rollover, crash at around 11:09pm Friday evening. The crash occurred at the intersection of Hwy 27 & George St. in Frostproof.
According to Brian Bruchey, public information officer with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a Black 2004 Chevy Blazer was traveling West on George St., when driver lost control. The Chevy Blazer flipped over onto its roof. Both occupants (male and female from Frostproof) of the vehicle were transported by helicopter to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The scene was cleared at around 12:58am Saturday morning.
The accident is still under investigation, but at this time no charges have been filed. We will update if anymore information is forthcoming.
Editors note: The victims names have not been released pursuant to Marsy’s Law. For more information on that law you may find specifics here: Marsy’s Law
